The holy and glorious Great-martyr Marina of Antioch (also known as Margaret of Antioch) was killed for her faith under the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). The Church remembers her on July 17.

Life

Marina lived in what is now modern-day Pisidia, Turkey, in the early fourth century. Her father was a pagan priest, and her mother died in childbirth. The unwanted Marina was then left in the care of a nursemaid, who was later discharged of her duties and sent to work as a shepherdess. While still a teenager, Marina made a vow of perpetual chastity to God.

One day, while Marina was tending sheep, a Roman prefect attempted to seduce her. When she refused his advances, she was denounced as a Christian. Upon refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods, she was subjected to various tortures, including being beaten with clubs and her skin being raked with iron combs. One rather interesting torment included plunging Marina into a cauldron of boiling water, out of which she came unharmed, singing God's praises. Popular legend also states that in her prison cell Satan tried to tempt and even physically assault her several times. She was eventually beheaded at the age of sixteen, around the year AD 304.